Van projects

[Milkfloat]

Gotta love a drillium project.

 

[DRM]

That's great info, thanks - I wouldnt have thought of that I'm sure I'll drill lots of holes in that case, it will also make it lighter to fold in and out 😊

An hole saw is ideal, just let’s the mattress breath, another thing that springs to mind as well is if you intend using gas for cooking with it’s heavier than air so sinks to the floor if you get a leak, caravans have holes at floor level to let escaped lpg escape outside, I don’t know if you intend storing gas in it but it’s something to consider as is a flammable gas sticker on the outside

 

[fossyant]

An hole saw is ideal, just let’s the mattress breath, another thing that springs to mind as well is if you intend using gas for cooking with it’s heavier than air so sinks to the floor if you get a leak, caravans have holes at floor level to let escaped lpg escape outside, I don’t know if you intend storing gas in it but it’s something to consider as is a flammable gas sticker on the outside
View attachment 599095 View attachment 599095

And that's just after eating Beans

 

[JhnBssll]

I had planned to do some work on the drive after work today but it started raining at about 5.15pm and didn't stop so instead I decided to right a wrong that had been nibbling away at me...

@JhnBssll where is the 3D printing in this design? I am disappointed!

Quite right! No project is complete without a 3D printed part that could have been made quicker, cheaper and more easily by another method With this in mind I started to think about how the new roof fan I'd purchased was going to fit... There were various warnings that it was only suitable for a completely flat roof in the advert which I took as a challenge. The transit connect roof has valleys to strengthen it up and is curved in both directions, it is by no means flat where I intend to fit it just in front of the solar panel...

Here's the little fan in question, a neat little cowl hiding a small 12V fan to help vent some of the noxious gases that would otherwise rapidly build up with me sleeping inside

You can see why they want you to mount it to a flat surface, the sealing is done with a big O-ring. I decided an adapter was in order to sandwich between the fan and the van roof. I got my measuring kit out and climbed up the step ladder, then took those measurements and created a quick CAD model. A few hours later and one of my printers had created this for me...

It's the same profile as the roof on one side, minus a ~2mm gap to allow for sealant, and flat on the other. Once I've cut the 80mm hole through I'll paint the bare metal edges then bond the adapter to the roof, then bond the fan to the adapter. The hole thing is then held in place with a big bolt through the middle from the inside to pull it tight The adapter is printed in ABS so should be both watertight and robust - I expect it to outlast the van by a good few years.

Obviously since it was raining I didn't cut any holes in the van roof this evening, so fitting it will have to wait for another day I expect water will pool in the channel once it's blocked by my adapter, but as long as I seal it all and keep an eye on it I can't see that being a problem. I've covered any dodgy/rusty spots up there with white hammerite already so it should be fine for a good few years yet

 

[Milkfloat]

Just checking, you said you would bind the fan to the adapter which is bonded to the roof. If they are both bonded together how to you replace the fan when it fails next month?

 

[JhnBssll]

The top section is an assembly held together with 4 screws, the fan itself will be accessible and removable after the assembly has been bonded in place 😊

 

[JhnBssll]

Whilst on the surface not much has been happening on the van project because I've been working on more pressing jobs, I've been ticking things over in my head and have ordered some steel for the seat/bed. It should arrive within the next week or so, at which point I'll get my cutting and welding stuff out and have a play I still need to fit the fan and wire the sockets too, but once those bits are done I'll start lining the inside 😊 I've been looking on and off for weeks now for a pair of rear doors and cargo door with factory fitted glass, but the only ones I can find so far are pretty shabby. If I cant find them before I start the interior trim I'll leave the doors untrimmed I think rather than do it twice 😄

I've been pootling around in the van and keeping tabs on the chargers and batteries, happy to report everything seems to be working rather well at the moment 😊 Once the 12V sockets are in I'll do a little experiment by running the fridge in the back for a few days and monitoring the battery level, should be interesting

 

[MontyVeda]

Only just discovered this project... after following the porch and kitchen thread, I'm seriously impressed with your 'i want it so i'll make it' approach.

now what's this about a garage too?

 

[jowwy]

Only just discovered this project... after following the porch and kitchen thread, I'm seriously impressed with your 'i want it so i'll make it' approach.

now what's this about a garage too?

hes dumped the garage, wasnt hard enough for him.........the guy is awesome with his work

 

[fossyant]

We've got Van DIY withdrawal you know !

 

[JhnBssll]

You guys really know how to keep me motivated

I had a suprise steel delivery today! I mean, I knew I'd ordered it, I just wasn't expecting it to arrive so quickly Unable to resist a play with my welder I decided to make a start this afternoon after work. I've gone for 20mm box section mild steel with 2mm wall thickness, should be plenty strong enough for what I need whilst not being too big and bulky.

I bought 6m lengths so I could cut wedges out and bend the frame sections so marked the tube up then grabbed the grinder and cut out my first wedge...

I'd bought a right angled clamp for the bed build and its come in very handy so far The tube bends easily by hand once the wedge is cut out so it can be clamped like so...

Important step before clamping is to use some IPA or similar to thoroughly clean the tube of the protective oil its likely to be covered in, otherwise the weld will likely be porous and not as strong as it would otherwise be. That done I set the little twiddly knobs and switches on the welder to somewhere that seemed reasonable () and got stuck it

My welding is never going to win any beauty contests, but in this case it didnt matter as I'll be grinding them flat again afterwards...

After not too long I'd joined the two loose ends together and had the first outer section of bed frame all welded up 😄 I burst my last cutoff disc on the last cut so have called it a day, will pick more up tomorrow. I'm yet to grind two of the corners too but it's a good start and didnt take too long

I'll need the weather to hold to carry on, theres no way I'm grinding or welding in the garage with the amount of stuff stored and close proximity to shiny bicycles

 

[JhnBssll]

More seat/bed related fabrication this afternoon and evening I finished work at lunchtime and went straight to work. I needed a second frame identical to the one I made yesterday so I cut the steel tube to length and welded it up. I then put the two frames next to each other and welded the hinges in place to join them together.

Before I could make the third and final frame section I needed some proper dimensions, so decided to turn my attention to the mounting bracket for the drivers side. I climbed in the back of the van and had a ponder, eventually deciding to utlise some existing holes to bolt some bits of box section to the wall, then weld a rail to them. This worked rather well. I tack welded the rail in place in the van then took it out to finish welding, before bolting it back in place.

With that done I could measure up for the last bit of bed frame 😄 As before I cut wedges out of the steel tube, bent it to shape then welded the corners. With the frame done I took the bracket back out and welded more hinges in place. This is where I had to stop, because it was getting dark I managed to bolt the bracket back in and slide the seat frame on to the hinges, looks like it's going to be spot on for what I need.

I couldn't resist popping the other section of frame in next to it to check it fits - great success, it seems to be ok

First job tomorrow will be to pull it all out again and weld hinges on to join the two sections together, then I can make some legs and a bracket for the nearside wall to support it 😊 Once I'm happy it fits, folds and unfolds as planned I'll cut some more lengths of steel and split each frame in to 3 or 4 sections, then weld tabs in all the internal corners to fix some plywood boards to. Plenty still to do but very happy with todays progress 😊

 

[JhnBssll]

I've spent several more hours on the van over the last few days and some good progress has been made, despite the weather doing its best to thwart me

The rush is due to Mrs Bssll wanting to use the van for a festival this coming weekend - I've known this for months, but other jobs have had priority until now. Yesterday I realised I was running short on time to finish the bed so made the decision to concentrate on two of the three frame sections. Since it's only her sleeping in it this weekend that'll be plenty big enough, and it means I don't have to faff around building the side supports for the nearside yet, just a few legs. It also reduces the amount of welding and painting by a third which is pretty handy

First step was to weld the last few hinges on so that all the parts fit together and I could test fit them before I put one of the frames to one side. Here it is in the seat position.

And here it is folded out as a bed

And finally here it is in the stowed position

Lots of brackets and fittings required to hold it in these positions but that can wait until after it's been trialled this weekend 😊

Happy with that I cut and welded cross supports in to the two remaining frame sections, then cut square tabs to put in each corner to support the plywood that will form the platform. Once these were all welded up I painted the bits black and left them overnight.

This morning I started again on the 12V electrics - I'd got the lights and charging side of things working a while ago, but the 12V power was still missing and the wires for the stereo remote on/off and fan were still to be done. I also needed to fit the TV so I knew where the socket would need to go. I didn't take many photo's during the work, but here is the TV fitted on it's special travel bracket that locks it against the wall...

I'm waiting on a few connectors to finish the TV install - the SCART lead will provide the audio out to the stereo in the front but I need a new adaptor as the one I have is too bulky to fit I also need an antenae connector as I had to cut the one off the aerial I bought to run it through a grommet from outside I've also bought a signal booster as the reception is rubbish in these parts. I'll report back when I've connected it all up, hopefully I'll get at least a few channels

With the power run back to the leisure battery for the TV I tirned my attention to neatening that corner of the van up, adding a few more power sockets and finishing the stereo wiring. I cut the original hardboard panel to cover most of it, I'll build around the battery another day but will insulate the +ve terminal before the weekend to prevent accidental sparks

In the top left of the panel are two 12V sockets, then a switch to remotely turn the stereo on and off, and a switch to turn the ceiling fan on and off. For now the fan wire is dangling from the ceiling as there is no ceiling fan I'm in two minds about fitting it before the weekend in case I don't seal it properly and it leaks

Anyway, with that panel fitted it meant I could refit the now painted bed/seat bits 😄

So here we are, this is how she stands this evening:

Before she leaves on Friday I need to finish the following:

- Build some legs to support the frame sections.
- Drill and screw the ply boards down to the two finished frame sections - I've already cut the ply to fit.
- Fit the ceiling fan?
- Give it a good clean

If I finish that I've also bought the ply to board the ceiling and walls before I insulate and line the inside but I suspect I will be doing that at a later date

 

[JhnBssll]

I only had a few hours for van jobs today but made them count - I've got the TV aerial connected and an aerial booster installed so the TV now picks up 34 channels I also got the audio out working through the van's stereo To top it all off, tipping point was on the first channel that came up so I lost 10 minutes of working time to a stubborn bonus counter I've since tidied the cables up a bit, looks a lot (well, a bit) neater now

I did some welding too - managed to start fabricating the four legs for the seat/bed and get them test fitted. I need to take about 6mm off all of them, weld a few more bits on, paint them and add their plastic end caps tomorrow 😊 Here's the frame resting loosely on the unfinished legs:

And here is the cut ply resting loosely on the frame resting loosely on the unfinished legs:

It feels like its starting to come together now

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

Glad and sad that I opened this thread. My van won't have the same work done to it but this is a tremendous job